Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the authors. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended. This is just a tribute.

As always, a thank you to willowbae, my beta and fellow Internet addict :)

Chapter 26.

Nessie – Mr Morals

I was feeling very cheerful on the following Monday, but I should have known that it was too good to last. That was the day on which I made the foolish mistake of mentioning my surfing trip to my mother.

On Tuesday I got a call from Jacob. I was in my room, working on an essay, when the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Nessie." He sounded subdued.

"Jake, are you ok?"

I was worried; did he have bad news? Had something happened to him, or Grandpa, or Billy? Maybe Seth was in trouble… or Katherine?

Thankfully, he didn't beat around the bush. "Don't panic; everything's fine. I'm sorry to do this to you, honey, but I won't be able to take you to Mavericks after all." At least he sounded regretful, but that was nothing compared to the way that I felt.

"Oh…" I couldn't keep the disappointment out of my voice.

"I'm sorry, I know I promised. I really wanted to go, but I've got so much on at work… and Steve really doesn't know what he's doing yet..."

He carried on listing reasons for this let down, but I stopped listening. My mind was turning, trying to figure out the truth. His excuses certainly didn't convince me. I followed my gut and said.

"It was my father, wasn't it? He told you not to take me."

Jake couldn't lie to me. He was quiet for a moment, clearly reluctant to tell tales. In the end his loyalty to me won through. "He asked me not to."

"What's the big deal; we've often gone away together on hunting trips."

"Edward doesn't see it that way. I guess he doesn't trust me," he added, with an edge to his voice. "I mean, I did try to explain that it's not that kind of vacation, I even told him that you'd booked separate rooms, but I don't think he believed it."

It seemed that my father knew me better than Jacob did.

But I still couldn't believe that Jake had let him spoil all my plans. My frustration and disappointment came spilling out, as I turned on him accusingly.

"So, you care more about what he wants, than what I want."

Jake sounded hurt. "It's not like that."

"Yes it is," I exclaimed bitterly. "You could just ignore him. I thought you wanted to go away with me."

Jake was keeping his voice controlled – years of being an Alpha had taught him impressive anger management skills. "It's not as simple as that," he explained patiently. "I have to respect his wishes when it comes to you."

"Why?" I sounded like a sulky child and this knowledge did nothing to improve my mood.

"Oh, come on, Nessie." The impatience leaked into his voice. "You don't need me to explain how tough things would be if I was at war with Edward, especially for you. Would it really make your life easier if I just ignored him and did whatever I wanted?"

"I don't know. What do you want?" I asked petulantly. I wasn't sure that I knew anymore.

He sighed. "Right now, I want you to understand that I'm doing this for your sake, and stop giving me a hard time."

I was angry, but not enough to be entirely unjust. Jacob's hands were tied and we both knew it. It was just another shining example of my father's control-freakishness. Wasn't I lucky? I had my very own moral policeman.

"Ok, ok…" I grumbled. "I get it. Don't worry about it."

Jake sounded a combination of relieved and dissatisfied. "You know how sorry I am, don't you?"

"Sure." Yeah right.

At that point I was still too disappointed to really believe him. He must have known it, by the tone of my voice, but he didn't argue with me. The rest of our conversation was brief. I was in a sulk and refused to speak in anything but monosyllables. Jake tried his best to lift my mood, but after five minutes of evasive answers and long silences, he gave up and promised to call me later.

After we had finished speaking, I couldn't go back to writing my stupid essay. Instead, I spent the rest of the afternoon lying on my bed, flicking through Dungeons and Dragons books and feeling grumpy.

My dad called me that evening. He sounded very relaxed and didn't mention my trip. It was a weird conversation. We both knew that my plans had been thwarted, but neither of us was going to admit to anything. I certainly wasn't about to confess that my motives for the vacation were anything but entirely virtuous. And my dad didn't know that Jacob had told me of his interference.

It was infuriating how cheerful he sounded. He just chatted about the family and kept the tone light. He couldn't have failed to notice that I wasn't my usual talkative self, but he refrained from comment. It was only when we were saying goodbye that my curiosity got the better of me and I brought up my conversation with Jake.

I decided to feign innocence, and said in a casual voice. "Before I forget, would you mind telling Mom that I won't be going to Mavericks, after all?"

"Of course not," he answered nonchalantly, and then made me grit my teeth by asking. "Why not?"

"Jake said he wouldn't be able to take me after all." I stuck to the official explanation. "He's going to be too busy with work."

I wondered if my dad might feel a little guilty for spoiling all my plans, but he sounded quite the opposite as he pretended to console me. "That's too bad, sweetheart."

I wasn't about to let him know how disappointed I was, so I just added pleasantly. "I've decided to spend my study week at Grandpa's instead. I'm sure I'll get plenty of work done."

"You could always come to New Hampshire," my dad suggested eagerly. "We'd love to see you, Nessie. Why don't you fly over?"

Ordinarily I would have been pleased by this suggestion, but at that moment, I would have rather died than accept his invitation. There was absolutely no way I was going to spend study week – which should have been my special romantic vacation – with my family. I had been beaten, but I wasn't about to roll over.

I bit back my irritation and attempted to sound grateful. "Thanks Dad, but I already have plans."

"Well, if you change your mind, just let us know," he replied affably.

Maybe when hell freezes over!

We said goodbye and I was left feeling extremely aggrieved. I was convinced that my father was the most puritanical kill-joy ever to walk the face of the earth. I brooded for an hour, until my need to unburden myself got the better of me and I called Katherine. Fortunately for me, she was at the cottage and picked up straight away.

Katherine listened to my tale of woe with great sympathy. It was only after I had whined for ten minutes that she decided to pass comment. She pointed out that since my dad had figured out my plan, his behaviour was hardly surprising.

"What did you think he was going to do, Nessie? Toss you a room key and say 'go for it.'"

"Well, no…" I admitted grudgingly.

She continued in a very matter-of-fact way. "Seriously, from what you've told me about your dad's values, by his standards he was being open-minded. I mean, he didn't get angry with you, did he? Or try to forbid you from seeing Jake."

"No."

"In fact, he didn't say anything at all. He just put a stop to it, without even lecturing you. I'd say you got off lightly."

I couldn't believe that she was sticking up for my dad, and I became rather sullen. "So are you saying I should be grateful?"

Luckily, Katherine wasn't remotely offended by my resentful tone, she just laughed. "No, I know you're disappointed, I'm just trying to remind you that it could have been much worse. Believe me, I know…"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you should have seen my dad, Nessie. If he'd known about some of the stuff that I got up to, he would have banished me to one of those institutions for delinquent girls, either that or broken my neck."

"You're kidding, right?" She had mentioned her dad before. I knew he'd pushed her in her athletics training, but I hadn't realised that things were quite so difficult in other ways.

"I wish I was." She sounded grave. "I was just lucky that he never caught me. My dad was a marine and he was hard bastard; I swear, he ruled our family with a rod of iron. Things had to be done his way, or else…"

As she spoke, Katherine's bitterness was unmistakeable. "You couldn't talk to him; there was never any room for compromise. Like the way he pushed my brother Bobby into the marines. It was awful.

"Bobby was such a nice guy, he was always happy, but my dad just wouldn't let up. So my brother ended up in the military, and his first tour of duty changed him…" Her voice was suspended for a moment, before she added. "He was killed on his second."

There was a long pause, and when she continued her voice was laced with anger. "After that, I could hardly bear to speak to my dad. It was lucky that he was stationed abroad and that I was on a scholarship, so at least I didn't really have to. I was actually glad to know that when I was turned, he lost me too. He didn't deserve either of us."

This piece of her family history was completely new to me, I don't think that she started with the intention of telling me, but somehow it had all spilled out. The depth of animosity implied in her final statement shocked me. Things must have been very bad for Katherine to feel this way.

"I'm sorry… about your brother," I said quietly. "I didn't know."

"Thanks, that's nice of you to say. I don't like to talk about him much; it still makes me too sad." She sounded very wistful. "I know it happened a long time ago, but I don't think I'll ever stop missing him."

I could hear in her tone that the pain of her brother's death had not diminished in over fifty years. It certainly put my petty irritation with my father into perspective. At this point my anger waned enough for me to admit that I was going to have to let it go.

I wasn't exactly pleased with him, and I didn't want him to win the war, but on this occasion my dad had outsmarted me and I knew it. I had no choice, I was going to have to accept this defeat with good grace, or be left looking like a fool.

All I knew was that he may have got the better of me this time, but next time, things might be different.

Author's notes:

Just a little note to say thank you to my reviewers. I always enjoy reading your comments :)

Also, thank you for reading, have a great week, Mad :)